Grain inspections down by a quarter from a year ago

For the week ending April 2, total inspections of grain (corn, wheat, and soybeans) for export from all major United States export regions totaled 1.9 million metric tons, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Federal Grain Inspection Service.

Total grain inspections were down 9% from the previous week, down 25% from last year, and down 25% from the 3-year average. Compared to the previous week, corn inspections were unchanged at 1.25 million metric tons, but wheat and soybean inspections decreased 17% and 28%, respectively.

Total grain inspections decreased 42% from the previous week in the Pacific Northwest, but increased 6% in the Mississippi Gulf. During the last four weeks, inspections of grain were 17% below last year and 23% below the 3-year average.

For the week ending March 26, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 23.7 million metric tons. This represented a 28% decrease in outstanding sales, compared to the same time last year. Net corn export sales were 1.075 million metric tons, down 41% from the past week.

Net soybean export sales were 0.958 million metric tons, up 6% from the previous week. Net weekly wheat export sales were 0.073 million metric tons, down 90 % from the previous week.